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परमेश्वर के वचन की आज्ञाकारिता – 1
1. “तू हियाव बांधकर पुरुषार्थ दिखा” (1 राजाओं 2:2)2. “जो कुछ तेरे परमेश्वर यहोवा ने तुझे सौंपा है, उसकी रक्षा कर”; अर्थात, वह परमेश्वर द्वारा उसी सौंपी गई बातों का एक अच्छा भण्डारी बने (1 राजाओं 2:3a)3. जितनी बातें परमेश्वर के वचन में लिखी हैं, वह उनका आज्ञाकारी बना रहे (1 राजाओं 2:3b)4. वह सावधान रहे, और हमेशा प्रभु के प्रति समर्पित बना रहे (1 राजाओं 2:4)
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English Translation
Obedience to God’s Word – 1
We had begun this series on leading a Blessed and Successful life based on David’s conversation with his son Solomon recorded in 1 Kings 2:2-4. In this passage David instructs Solomon, that to remain victorious, he must remain totally trusting, obedient and dependent upon God, and to make God his security. For this to happen, he must do the following 4 things:
1. To "be strong and prove yourself a man." (1Ki 2:2).
2. To "keep the charge of the Lord God", i.e. to be a good Steward of whatever God has given to him (1Ki 2:3a).
3. To be obedient to the Word of God, in all things written in it. (1Ki 2:3b).
4. To be careful, taking heed, to remain sincere and committed to the Lord always (1Ki 2:4b).
Since the same 4 instructions apply to every Christian Believer, for their being victorious and successful in their Christian lives and be partakers of God's blessings, particularly in these end times when we are facing the relentless attacks of satanic forces in various ways and in every aspect of our lives, therefore, we have used these 4 principles to learn about living a committed Christian life that glorifies God, and brings blessings to our lives. So far, we have seen and learnt from the first two instructions that David gave to Solomon. In learning from the second instruction on stewardship of all that God has given to the Christian Believer and being accountable to God for them all, we have seen in considerable detail about God’s Word, God’s Holy Spirit, God’s Church and Fellowship with other Believers, and Gifts of the Holy Spirit and the Believer’s stewardship of these four. Today we will begin to see about the third instruction – Obedience to God and His Word. Since we have already seen many things and details about God’s Word, we will not repeat them, but will only build upon them, as relevant to this instruction.
As we know, the first sin, the act that gave sin entry into the world and creation, as is recorded in Genesis 3:1-6, was disobedience of God’s Word, i.e., God’s instructions, by Eve, and then by Adam. As we see from this passage from Genesis, Satan beguiled Eve into committing this sin by inducing her to use her intellect and reasoning, and fall for that which seemed to be logical and appealing to her instead of remaining steadfast with what God had said. By her assessment eating the forbidden fruit was a better choice than living by God’s instructions of not eating it, so she disobeyed God, and ended up committing sin. Of the many ways that sin has been defined in the Bible, the basic definition is that it is ‘lawlessness’ or ‘transgression of the law’ (1 John 3:4) – here ‘law’ means not just the Mosaic Law, but all of God’s instructions to man. Any disobedience, any breach of carrying out what God has instructed, is transgression of God’s law, and is ‘sin.’ God’s justice demands that sin either be atoned or judged; it cannot be glossed over, taken lightly and condoned. This principle is evident from the time of Adam and Eve; they sinned, they were given opportunity to confess and seek forgiveness, but instead of that, they tried to pass away the blame and justify themselves, and had to bear the penalty – being cast out of the Garden of Eden and brought under death.
Even if the transgression is done under a compulsion, or some fear, or even for worshipping God, being reverential towards God, God does not accept it; it is still sin and abhorrent to God. We this well illustrated in the Old Testament through the example of the first king of Israel – Saul, and from the life and behavior of the Israelites. We see from 1 Samuel 13:1-14, that since Samuel delayed coming, Saul felt compelled to offer the sacrifices himself – something which Samuel was to do. The result was that he was severely reprimanded by Samuel for taking matters into his own hands and doing what seemed right to him, instead of following the instructions; and he was warned that this disobedience will cost him his kingdom. But Saul did not learn his lesson, took disobeying God casually. We see from 1 Samuel 15:1-23, that out of fear of men – his own people, he did not completely annihilate the livestock of the Amalekites as he had been instructed to do, and also spared the life of the Amalekite King Agag. Saul tried to justify his disobedience by saying that the best of the animals had been kept to sacrifice to God, but that did not help, and God rejected Saul as being king of Israel.
Similarly, the history of Israel, since the time of their deliverance from Egypt, throughout the Old Testament, even carrying on into the New Testament times was of recurring disobedience to God. Every time they disobeyed, they suffered severe consequences, promised to stay faithful and obedient to the Lord, then after some time they would slip back into disobeying God and living life the way they wanted to live, and once again suffer the consequences of their disobedience.
Similarly, in the New Testament, a classical example of doing things not in obedience to God but by according to own desires, and their getting rejected by God is in Matthew 7:21-23, where even the preaching and miraculous works done in the name of the Lord, but not in obedience to God have been rejected and called “lawlessness.”
On the other hand, obedience to God has its blessings and rewards, as we will see in the next article.
If you have not yet accepted the discipleship of the Lord, make your decision in favor of the Lord Jesus now to ensure your eternal life and heavenly blessings. Where there is obedience to the Lord, where there is respect and obedience to His Word, there is also the blessing and protection of the Lord. Repenting of your sins, and asking the Lord Jesus for forgiveness of your sins, voluntarily and sincerely, surrendering yourself to Him - is the only way to salvation and heavenly life. You only have to say a short but sincere prayer to the Lord Jesus Christ willingly and with a penitent heart, and at the same time completely commit and submit your life to Him. You can also make this prayer and submission in words something like, “Lord Jesus, I am sorry for my sins and repent of them. I thank you for taking my sins upon yourself, paying for them through your life. Because of them you died on the cross in my place, were buried, and you rose again from the grave on the third day for my salvation, and today you are the living Lord God and have freely provided to me the forgiveness, and redemption from my sins, through faith in you. Please forgive my sins, take me under your care, and make me your disciple. I submit my life into your hands." Your one prayer from a sincere and committed heart will make your present and future life, in this world and in the hereafter, heavenly and blessed for eternity.
